by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports

UCLA has gone into Lincoln, Neb., and rolled past the hometown Cornhuskers, scoring the game's final 38 points in a breezy 41-21 win. The Bruins have tripped to Salt Lake City and sneaked past Utah, taking advantage of six interceptions to eke out a 34-27 victory. Through five games, UCLA holds two of the more impressive road wins in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Another formidable pair of road trips stands ahead: UCLA ends October with trips to Stanford and Oregon, games that will decide whether the Bruins remain among the nation's surprise teams ‚?? if not move all the way to No. 1, atop the heap in the Pac-12 and elsewhere ‚?? or slide outside the championship picture.

Saturday's game at Stanford marks the third time these two teams have met in 11 months. Stanford beat UCLA 35-17 in the Rose Bowl on Nov. 24, 2012; a week later, the Cardinal beat the Bruins in the Pac-12 title game. If nothing else, Saturday's game might provide evidence of just how far UCLA has come under second-year coach Jim Mora.

Here are another nine teams with something to prove this weekend in college football:

Texas Tech

That 6-0 Texas Tech is the lowest-ranked undefeated automatic-qualifying team in the FBS comes as a result of the Red Raiders' smooth first-half schedule: SMU, Iowa State, Texas State and Kansas don't exactly impress the voting public. The second half begins with a trip to West Virginia, which has been woeful on the road ‚?? losing to Maryland and Baylor by a score of 110-42 ‚?? but solid at home, as evidenced by September's win against Oklahoma State. With Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor and Texas still to come, the Red Raiders must show an ability to win games in hostile road environments against Big 12 competition.

Florida

The defense remains elite even as the SEC moves toward a more offensive mindset: Florida's group allows only 4.17 yards per play, by far the top mark in the conference, and has held all four league opponents to 17 points or less. Unfortunately, the Gators' offense ‚?? now led by quarterback Tyler Murphy ‚?? remains a significant nuisance. After last weekend's loss to LSU, the Gators' only hope at remaining in the SEC East Division race demands a win at undefeated Missouri. The defense should make life miserable for Maty Mauk, the replacement for James Franklin, but the offense needs to step forward while dealing with its own rash of injuries.

Auburn

Auburn has already exceeded its win total from all of last fall, that lost final season under Gene Chizik, and seems poised to make a run at eight or nine wins despite a difficult road through the SEC West Division. Why is Saturday's game at Texas A&M the biggest game of the year? Because with Florida Atlantic, Arkansas and Tennessee up next, a win places Auburn and coach Gus Malzahn on the road toward a 9-1 mark heading into games with Georgia and Alabama to end the regular season. Last year, the Tigers barely sniffed A&M in a 63-21 defeat.

Houston

Houston has opened 5-0 due to the aggressive and opportunistic play of its defense, which has helped the Cougars lead the FBS with a plus-14 turnover margin. At the same time, the offense has cut down dramatically on its own missteps: UH has only four turnovers through five games after committing 35 giveaways a season ago. One thing about that, however: Houston has played the easiest schedule of any undefeated FBS team at the midway point. It's one thing to push past Temple; it's another to do the same against Brigham Young, Saturday's opponent.

Duke

Reaching a bowl game? That's rare: Duke did it once in 1994 and not again until last season. Back-to-back bowl games? Well, that's unprecedented. After dominating Navy in last weekend's 35-7 win, the Blue Devils can move one step closer to securing a second postseason berth in a row with a win against Virginia ‚?? a team descending almost in direct correlation with Duke's rise. Now 4-2 with the chance to be 5-2, a win might not merely solidify Duke's bowl hopes; it could make the second half very interesting in the ACC Coastal Division.

USC

It's one thing to be reenergized for the first game after a coaching change, as was USC in its 38-31 win against Arizona on Oct. 10 ‚?? the Trojans' first game under interim coach Ed Orgeron. It will take more than just energy to beat rival Notre Dame, which views Saturday's game with USC as a stepping-off point for a charge toward the BCS during the second half. Beating Arizona takes technique, in a sense, since the Wildcats' spread-based offense tests a team's ability to corral players in space. Taking on the Irish demands toughness, however, and could strain the Trojans' already thin level of depth on defense.

Florida State

What's one difference between Clemson and Florida State? Both are ranked in the top five of this week's USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. Both are led by a Heisman-contending quarterback ‚?? Tajh Boyd for Clemson, Jameis Winston for the Seminoles. Both teams have the speed on the edges and size inside to compete with the upper tier of the SEC, should push come to shove in January. The one difference, perhaps, may come from Clemson's 60-minute tests against Georgia, North Carolina State and Boston College. In comparison, each of FSU's five wins has been decided long before the fourth quarter.

UNLV

To put UNLV's 4-2 start into perspective, consider two facts: UNLV had won a total of six games the past three years ‚?? since coach Bobby Hauck replaced Mike Sanford ‚?? and has not won six games in a single season since 2003. How are the Rebels doing it? Well, the current four-game winning streak hasn't come against a murderer's row: Central Michigan, Western Illinois, New Mexico and Hawaii. But with the offense on pace to obliterate school records, UNLV might just have enough punch to secure bowl eligibility in the Mountain West. Whether the team can do more hinges largely on Saturday's visit to Fresno State, the prohibitive conference favorite and an at-large BCS bowl candidate.

Utah

Last weekend's win was Utah's coming-out party as a member of the Pac-12. But beating Stanford ‚?? as big as it was in and out of the standings ‚?? will be for naught if the Utes can't carry it into a road trip to Arizona, which is reeling after back-to-back losses to open conference play. How crucial was Utah's offseason addition of ex-Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson to the coaching staff? The offense seems tough to stop when avoiding turnovers, but Utah needs to score in bunches to hang with the Wildcats' potent running game.

Paul Myerberg, a national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports, is on Twitter @PaulMyerberg.